Anna Marie Berit Wolcott

Anna Marie Berit "Berit" Wolcott (née Røe) died peacefully on November 6, 2023 in Boca Raton, Florida at the age of 90. She loved foreign languages, foreign food and culture, being outdoors in nature with her family, knitting and sewing, baking homemade bread, meeting new people, and creating community. Her calm demeanor, sharp wit and transparent authenticity touched the hearts of those who knew her.

The oldest of six siblings, Berit was born in Ytre Arna, near Bergen, Norway on August 2, 1933. Delivered by the district's only doctor, her father, Oluf Røe, she attended elementary school there, enrolling herself a year early at the age of 6. Among her greatest joys in that period were the magnificent Christmas gatherings at her maternal grandparents’ house in Bergen. Her family moved to Oslo in 1940, shortly before the German invasion of Norway on April 9. To escape the chaos and bombing in the city, her mother Grethe (Helland-Hansen) Røe took Berit and her younger brothers Jon and Bjørn to her uncle's house in the country where she was able to play freely with many cousins, cementing their bond for life.

During the War, Berit attended elementary school in Oslo, often in private homes because the invading army had appropriated the schools for barracks. After the war ended in 1945 she continued her schooling in Oslo, where she participated in the Girl Scouts. For her final year of high school (1950-51), the family moved to Ålesund on the west coast of Norway.

Her lifelong love of foreign languages began when a French Girl Scout troop came to Norway in an exchange program. Berit was so enthralled by the melodious sound that she studied French in summer school at the University of Oslo before attending a Swiss boarding school in the fall of 1952 to become fluent in French. The following year she studied at the Sorbonne in Paris. Hoping to learn as many languages as possible, she then studied in Madrid and Salamanca, Spain between 1954-6.

Always eager to put her foreign language skills to practical use, Berit worked for the tourist bureau as a translator for visiting teams during the 1952 Olympic Winter games in Oslo, as a guide and translator on summer tour boats in Oslo harbor, and as a travel consultant for the Norwegian Automobile Federation from 1956-9. She later taught both French and Norwegian as a second language to adults in Oslo from 1958-9.

She met the love of her life, Calvin Wolcott, a U.S. Naval Officer on weekend leave in Oslo in the fall of 1959. She invited herself to have tea with the tall, handsome foreigner at the University cafeteria. They exchanged addresses that day but did not meet again until the next year while she was studying in Salamanca, Spain. Knowing where Berit was now studying, Calvin requested that his Naval discharge take place in Spain, where he met Berit for one magical day after which he continued on a solo auto tour through Africa. Arriving in Cape Town several months later under a declaration of martial law, the only transportation available to him was a Swedish merchant ship. Arriving once again in Scandinavia, Calvin reunited with Berit who had recently returned to Norway from Spain. They married a month later on October 1, 1960 in Namsos, Norway.

Their move to New Jersey was exciting but difficult for Berit, who was far from her close-knit family in Norway. After Peter was born, the young couple moved to New Hampshire where the climate would be similar to Scandinavia. She and Calvin became resident teachers and house parents at The Meeting School, a Quaker boarding school in West Rindge, New Hampshire. Berit taught French and Spanish, managed a household with teenage students, and gave birth to Catherine and Kristin during this busy time while thriving in the academic and social environment of a small school community.

After moving to Brunswick in 1970 and then to Portland, Maine, Berit finally completed her university degree and received a teaching certificate, becoming a substitute French and Spanish teacher and private language tutor throughout their time in Portland. She was also a long-time member of the Alliance Française. Berit served as coordinator for SIS, a Swedish foreign exchange program in the Greater Portland Area, enabling her to welcome foreign high-school students to her adopted country. She looked forward to participating at CFO (Camps Farthest Out) with her family every summer on Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire, reuniting with close friends year after year.

In Portland, Berit played tennis and was active in the church community. Nearly every weekend she ensured that her family spent time in nature, as she had done with her family in Norway: walks by the seaside or lakeside, hikes in the mountains, and cross-country skiing in the winter. Inheriting her Danish grandmother's imperative for service, Berit would often visit shut-in elderly community members, her lively conversation bringing them a breath of fresh air. Wherever she lived, she welcomed many friends and family into her warm and hospitable home.

In 1984 the couple moved to Marin County, California, and in 1996 settled in Florida, developing lasting friendships with each move. In Boca Raton they were active in the First United Methodist Church. Married for 61 years, Berit was predeceased by her husband Calvin on April 2, 2022.

Ever a Norwegian, Berit cultivated a love of Norway and Norwegian culture in her children and grandchildren.

Forever in our hearts, Berit will be missed by children Peter (Ellie), Cathrine, and Kristin (Scott); grandchildren Elisa, Dylan (Mariana), Lena (Eric), Erik, Clara and Annika; great-grandson Andrew; and siblings Bjørn Edin Røe, Signe-Line Røe, Dorthe Storesund, Marianne Røe, and the late Jon Røe.

Donations may be made to CFO International at

https://cfointernational.org/sample-page/the-cfo-daily-program/

Or checks sent to CFO INTERNATIONAL, P.O. BOX 184, AVONDALE, PA 19311.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.babionesouthflorida.com for the Wolcott family.